Protoiurus rhodiensis Soleglad, Fet, Kovařík et, 2012

Soleglad, Michael E., Fet, Victor, Kovařík, František & Yağmur, Ersen Aydın, 2012, Etudes on iurids, V. Further revision of Iurus Thorell, 1876 (Scorpiones: Iuridae), with a description of a new genus and two new species, Euscorpius 143, pp. 1-70 : 33-40

Protoiurus rhodiensis Soleglad, Fet, Kovařík et

Yağmur, sp. nov.

( Figs. 44–63, 65–67; Tables 7–8)

REFERENCES:

Iurus granulatus: Thorell, 1877: 193 (in part).

Iurus gibbosus (nec Buthus gibbosus Brullé, 1832 ; misidentification): Pavesi, 1878: 360 (in part).

Jurus dufourejus (incorrect subsequent spelling): Birula, 1903: 297 (in part).

Iurus dufoureius: Borelli, 1913: 2 (in part); Caporiacco, 1928: 240; Werner, 1936b: 17; Menozzi, 1941: 234 (in part); Caporiacco, 1948: 27; Gruber, 1963: 308 (in part); Gruber, 1966: 424; Kinzelbach, 1975: 21 (in part); Kinzelbach, 1982: 58 (in part); Kinzelbach, 1985: map IV (in part); Fet, 2000: 49 (in part); Stathi & Mylonas, 2001: 290 (in part); Kovařík & Whitman, 2005: 113; Soleglad et al., 2009: 2 (in part).

Jurus (incorrect subsequent spelling) dufoureius: Werner, 1934a: 162 (in part); Werner, 1938: 172 (in part); Vachon, 1953: 96 (in part).

Iurus asiaticus: Francke, 1981: 221 (in part); Vachon & Kinzelbach, 1987: 99, 102, fig. 6 (in part); Crucitti, 1995a: 2, fig. 1 (in part); Crucitti & Malori, 1998: 133 (in part).

Iurus dufoureius asiaticus: Kritscher, 1993: 383 (in part); Sissom & Fet, 2000: 419 (in part); Parmakelis et al., 2006: 253 (in part); Facheris, 2007a: 1–2 (in part); Facheris, 2007b: 1–2 (in part).

Iurus sp. : Fet, 2010: 8; Kovařík et al., 2010: 4–5, 189, figs. 49, 94, 102, 103

Note. Francke (1981: 222) suggested that, since Thorell (1877: 193–195) placed under Iurus granulatus a female from Greece as well as a male from Rhodes, this makes Buthus granulatus C. L. Koch, 1837 an available senior synonym of Iurus asiaticus Birula, 1903 (now Protoiurus ). This is, however, incorrect, since Koch’s original name was clearly given to a Peloponnese population. Therefore Buthus granulatus C. L. Koch, 1837 is a junior synonym of Iurus dufoureius (Brullé, 1832) , as synonymized by Karsch (1879); the Rhodes specimen of Thorell is not name-bearing.

Type material: Holotype ♂ Greece, Rhodes Island , W. of Kolymbia, 36°15'50.5"N, 28°05'39.0"E, 107 m a.s.l., 14–19.VI.2010, leg. F. Kovařík ( FKCP); paratypes, same as holotype, 1 ♂ 7 ♀ 1 im. ♀ ( FKCP).

Diagnosis. Medium sized species, 85 mm. Orangebrown carapace and mesosoma, legs, metasoma, and pedipalps lighter orange to yellow, pedipalp carinae dark reddish-brown, distinctly contrasted with palm. Pectinal tooth counts average for genus, 10–14 (11.28) males, 8– 12 (9.48) females. Chelal movable finger lobe in adult males located on basal half, lobe ratio 0.44–0.49; a subtle weak proximal gap on fixed finger present in adult males; movable finger of adult males essentially straight, not highly curved; number of inner denticles (ID) of chelal movable finger, 12–14 (13); hemispermatophore type 1a.

Distribution. Greece: Rhodes Island. See map in Fig. 17 and Material Studied section above.

Etymology. The new species is named after its area of provenance and endemism, the Rhodes Island.

MALE. The following description is based on holotype male from Kolymbia , Rhodes Island, Greece. Measurements of the holotype plus five other specimens are presented in Table 7. See Figure 44 for a dorsal and ventral view of the male holotype .

COLORATION. Basic color of carapace and mesosoma orange-brown; femur and patella of pedipalp, metasoma and telson light orange; chela dark orange and legs yellow; cheliceral fingers and distal aspect of palm brown, proximal aspect of palm yellowish; pedipalp carinae reddish-brown distinctly contrasted with palm; metasomal carinae light orange; sternites orange-brown; genital operculum, basal piece and pectines yellow-tan. Eyes and tubercles black, leg condyles and aculeus tip dark brown. Carapace median area darkish brown,

mediolateral ocular carinae dark brown, lateral edges yellow.

CARAPACE ( Fig. 47). Anterior edge with a conspicuous median indentation, approximately 12 irregularly placed setae visible; entire surface densely covered with small to medium granules. Mediolateral ocular carinae welldeveloped and granulated, extending to the lateral eyes; there are three lateral eyes, the posterior eye the smallest. Median eyes and tubercle of medium size, positioned anterior of middle with the following length and width ratios: 0.393 (anterior edge to medium tubercle middle / carapace length) and 0.149 (width of median tubercle including eyes / width of carapace at that point).

MESOSOMA ( Figs. 52– 53). Tergites I–VII rough in appearance, posterior half densely populated with minute granules; tergite VII surface covered with granules, lateral carinae granulated, median carinae only visible basally. Sternites III–VII smooth and lustrous; VII with crenulated lateral carinae and smooth to crenulated median carinae ( Fig. 53). Stigmata ( Fig. 52) are medium in size and slit-like in shape, angled 45° in an anterointernal direction.

METASOMA ( Fig. 48). Segment I wider than long. Segments I–IV: dorsal and dorsolateral carinae serrated; dorsal carinae with 11/10, 8/8, 11/11, and 9/9 serrated spines (left/right carina); dorsal (I–IV) and dorsolateral (I–III) carinae do not terminate with an enlarged spine; lateral carinae crenulated on I, irregularly present on posterior one-third of II; obsolete on segments III–IV; ventrolateral carinae smooth to granulated on I and granulated on II–IV; ventromedian carinae smooth to granulated on I–II, and granulated on III–IV. Dorsolateral carinae of segment IV terminate at articulation condyle. Segment V: dorsolateral carinae serrated; lateral carinae irregularly granulated for two-thirds of posterior aspect; ventrolateral and single ventromedian carinae serrated; ventromedian carina not bifurcated, terminating in straight line. Anal arch with 15 small serrated granules. Intercarinal areas of segments I–V essentially smooth. Segments I–V with numerous long setae on ventral, lateral and dorsal aspects.

TELSON ( Fig. 48). Vesicle elongated, with highly curved aculeus. Vesicle essentially void of granules; ventral surface densely covered with elongated curved setae; dorsal surface irregularly scattered with short to medium length setae; base of aculeus with setation ventrally and dorsally. Vesicular tabs smooth.

PECTINES ( Fig. 49, Fig. 55, paratype female). Welldeveloped segments exhibiting length / width ratio 2.325 (length taken at anterior lamellae / width at widest point including teeth). Sclerite construction complex, three anterior lamellae and five middle lamella; fulcra of medium development. Teeth number 11/10 (note: distal two teeth of left pecten are fused basally, intervening fulcrum missing). Sensory areas developed along most of tooth inner length on all teeth, including basal tooth. Scattered setae found on anterior lamellae and distal pectinal tooth. Basal piece large, with well developed indentation along anterior edge, length / width ratio 0.625.

GENITAL OPERCULUM ( Fig. 49). Sclerites triangular, longer than wide, separated for entire length. Genital papillae visible between sclerites but do not extend beyond genital operculum posterior edge (see discussion on female below).

STERNUM ( Fig. 49). Type 2, posterior emargination present, well-defined convex lateral lobes, apex visible but not conspicuous; anterior portion of genital operculum situated proximally between lateral lobes; sclerite length and width the same; sclerite slightly tapers anteriorly, posterior-width / anterior-width ratio 1.051 (see discussion on female below).

CHELICERAE ( Fig. 54). Movable finger dorsal edge with one large subdistal (sd) denticle; ventral edge with one large pigmented accessory denticle at finger midpoint; ventral edge serrula not visible. Ventral distal denticle (vd) slightly longer than dorsal (dd). Fixed finger with four denticles, median (m) and basal (b) denticles conjoined on common trunk; no ventral accessory denticles present.

PEDIPALPS ( Figs. 45, 46, 56). Well-developed chelae, with short fingers, heavily carinated, conspicuous scalloping on chelal fingers: well-developed lobe on movable finger, positioned proximal of midpoint in ratio 0.49; proximal gap weak, subtly present on fixed finger. Femur: Dorsointernal, dorsoexternal and ventrointernal carinae serrated, ventroexternal rounded and granulated. Dorsal and ventral surfaces with minute granules medially, internal surface with 15 serrated granules and external surface smooth. Patella: Dorsointernal and ventrointernal carinae serrated, dorsoexternal and ventroexternal crenulated, and exteromedian carina strong and crenulated, a second carina found medially with ten granules. Dorsal and ventral surfaces with minute granules medially; external surface with serrated exteromedian carina; internal surface smooth with welldeveloped, doubled DPS and VPS. Chelal carinae: Complies with the “8-carinae configuration”. Digital (D1) carina strong, lustrous, and granulated; dorsosecondary (D3) granulated in low profile; dorsomarginal (D4) rounded, heavily granulated; dorsointernal (D5) weak with medially placed serrated granules; ventro-

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Euscorpius — 2012, No. 143

external (V1) strong and serrated, terminating at external condyle of movable finger; ventrointernal (V3) rounded, lustrous, and granulated, continuous to internal condyle; external (E) strong, serrated; internal (I) irregularly serrated. Chelal finger dentition ( Fig. 45): Median denticle (MD) row groups oblique and highly imbricated, 11 on the fixed finger (to gap) and 13 on movable finger; 11/11 ID s to socket beginning on fixed finger and 13/13 ID s on movable finger; 9/10 OD s on fixed finger (to gap) and 13/13 OD s on movable finger. No accessory denticles present. Trichobothrial patterns ( Fig. 56): Type C, orthobothriotaxic.

LEGS ( Fig. 51). Both pedal spurs present on all legs, lacking spinelets; tibial spurs absent. Tarsus with conspicuous spinule clusters in single row on ventral surface (numbering 8-7-9-8 for legs I–IV, respectively), terminating distally with a pair of enlarged spinule clusters. Unguicular spine (dactyl) well-developed and pointed. Basitarsus with external and internal rows of spinule clusters as follows: 20/7 - 14/3 - 4/3 - 3/3 for legs I–IV, respectively

HEMISPERMATOPHORE ( Fig. 57). Hemispermatophore is type 1a: Distal lamina is tapered and pointed; internal nodule is conspicuously developed and pointed; transverse trunk bolsters are absent; acuminate process terminus is truncated. Specific ratio values for this species are the following based on two specimens: lamina length / trunk length = 0.966–0.981 (0.974) and lamina distal length / lamina basal length = 1.699–1.710 (1.705). Hemispermatophore length of holotype male is 11.77 mm.

Male and female variability ( Figs. 58–64). As seen in Figures 58–63, the adult female does not exhibit a proximal gap and the movable finger lobe is not as developed as in the male. In sexually mature males, a slight proximal gap is visible. The position of the lobe is slightly more basal on the female for comparable development stages, carapace length length/MF lobe ratio only showing a 4.9 % difference (see Fig. 64). There is no significant sexual dimorphism in morphometrics. Though the male has a slightly thinner metasoma, the MVDs (L/W) only ranged from 0.6 to 4.5 %. Pectinal tooth counts in males exceed those of females by approximately 1.8 teeth, male 10–14 (11.28) [32], female 8–12 (9.48) [44] (see histograms in Fig. 5). The genital operculum of the male is dramatically different from that in the female ( Figs. 49, 55). The sclerites, subtriangular in shape, are as long as or longer than wide in the male, whereas in the female the sclerites are short and wide, more than twice as wide as long. Whereas the sclerites are fused medially in the female, they are separated along their entire length in the male, exposing significantly developed genital papillae. The enlarged genital operculum of the male extends distally between the lateral lobes of the sternum partially obscuring its proximal region. Figures 44, 65–67 show dorsal and ventral views of both male and female specimens, the map of distribution for this species, live specimens, and photographs of its type locality.